Automatic valve



April 26, 1927.

A. MOSER AUTOMATI C VALVE Filed Aug. 51, 1926 INVENTOR A .Maser BY ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES Amtxmnna uosna, or nexsmn, new w en.

' AUTOMATIC VALVE.

Application filed Augusta, 1926. Serial No. 182,705.

The main object is to provide an automatic valve especially applicable to gas ranges and other devices usmg illuminating gas. At the resent time there is a number of fatalities t ru asphyxiation which can be attributed to carelessness of persons who with their apparel come in contact with the stems of gas valves, rotate said stems inadvertently and open the flow of gas unknowingly, thereby endangering one or more people in an apartment. This invention aims to eliminate this dangerous condition by providing a plunger valve which will only remain in open position when the gas flow has been ignited over a burner. The heat of the latter actuates "means which cause a locking element to engage the valve plunger when the latter is depressed to open position, which latter position is maintained un til an auxiliary valve shuts ofi circulation thru the valve.

'Another object is to provide a fixture for gas appliances consisting of a gas regulator valve and a pilot light, both of whichare ignited simultaneously upon depression of the regulator valve causing the gas to flow thru the orts of a burner and at the same instant, t e ignition of this gas by the extended flame of the pilot-light.

The above and other objects will become a parent in the description below, in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts in the drawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure '1 is a lon itudinal sectional elevational view of the va ve showing the same as applied to a burner fixture. This view shows both the regulator valve and the pilot light valve in open position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with the regulator valve closed and the pilot light valve in its normal partly closed position.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates the flow nozzle of a gas burner which is shown in its entirety in dotted lines. The burner has a pipe continuing from it which ends in a bell-shaped closure plate 12,. b

In front of the mouth of this burner, a gas supply pipe 13 is mounted on the appliance to which this device is adapted. The gas regulator valve consists of a cylindrical body 1a which is provided with a radially extending threaded nipple 15, the latter en- 'site direction to the nip 1e.

gaging in the threaded opening of the fuel supply pipe 13. A hollow-sleeve 16 extends from the body 14 in a diametrically oppo- Said sleeve inserts thru an aperture 1n theclosure plate 12 into the mouth of the burner. The nipple is provided with a channel 17, and a similar channel 18 which is aligned with channel 17 is provided in the sleeve 16 and communicates with the mouth of a burner thru a port 19. A bore passes entirely thru the length of the body 14, opens at the lower end of the. same and is partly restricted at its upper end by internal shoulders 20. Within said bore a plunger 21 is slidable. Intermediate .the length of the plunger, a diametral channel 22 is provided which, when the valve is in open position, aligns with the channels 17 and 18. An annular axial recess 23 is provided in said plunger 21. This revcess mtersects the channels 22 and commu- 'gaged to cause the stem and piston to be rotated when being extended or depressed. The-stem is provided with a head 28 from which extends an arrow head 29 which points to either an O to indicate the open position, or to a C diametrically opposite the O, to indicate the closed position,

it being noted that the stem describes a half turn inpassing from the open to the closed position..

The neck 24 has an encircling flange 30 at its upper end. Between this flange and the shoulder 20 of the body, a spring 31 is coiled about the neck of the plunger and normally lifts the latter upwardly into closed position made possible by the disalignment of the channels 22, and 17 and 18.

Near the lower end of the plunger 21, a triangular notch 32 into which the tapering nose 33 of a locking bar 34 is formed, the bar being projected by a mechanism sensitive to variations in temperature. The bar at its forward end is journalled. in a bracket 35 which is suspended vertically from the sleeve 16. This bracket also serves as an anchoring element for one end of a guide tube 36 which latter extends horizontally beneath the burner and to the opposite end thereof. At the latter position a vertical housing 37 is secured to the tube. This housing has a horizontally projecting shelf 38 at its upper end to which the leg 39 of a thermostat blade 40 is fixed. The blade consists of two plates welded together whose coeflicients of expansion are dissimilar. The lower end of the blade 40 has an orifice thru which is inserted the knobbed end of the lccking rod 34.

An additional tube 41 is connected to the nipple 15 and extends downwardly and is bent horizontally to course beneath the body 14 and the burner 10. A small square housing 42 is coupled to the pipe forming an internal chamber 43 in which a. slidable plunger 44 is mounted. The plunger is provided with a port 45 which at one position aligns with the channel 46 in the tube 41 when the plunger is in depressed position. The chamber 43 in the housing is just high enough to permit a partial closing of communication between the tube sections 41 on both sides of the housing. The plunger 44 is provided with a shank 47 surmounted by a head 48 which is engaged by a spring 49 seated on the top of the housing 42.

The valve is mounted upon a gas range or other appliance as shown in Figure 1 with the sleeve 16 inserted into the mouth 11 of the burner. Gas flows from the supply pipe 13 into the channel '17 of the nipple 15 and then passes across the recess 23 thru the channel 18 of the sleeve 16 when the plunger 21 is in depressed position so that the lower portion of the recess 23 is aligned with channels 17 and 18. Flow is only possible thru these channels into the burner when the plunger 21 has been depressed. Simultaneously with the depression of the plunger, the shank 47 of the plunger 44 is owered by coming in contact with the lower end-of the plunger 21 as the latter is being depressed, causin the plunger 44 to be lowered the entire distance into the housing so that a flash of flame is emitted thru the apertures 50 in the pilot light fixture 51.

The port 45 in the plunger 44 is normally only partly aligned with channel of the tube 41, permittin a small flow of gas thru said tube to the pilot light fixture and when the port 45 is fully aligned with the channel, a flash ensues from the fixture 50 which is projected over the burner. This flash ignites the gas flowing thru the valve,'at the burner. The heat from this flame acts on the thermo stat blade in the well-known way, causing the leg 40 to bend as shown in Figure 1. The bar 36 being connected to this leg, is

. projected toward the valve bod 14 so that the tapering nose 33 at the en of the bar enters into the notch 32 formed in the plunger 21, which notch at the moment of total depression of said plunger aligns with an opening formed in the wall of the body 14. When the nose 33 is in the notch 32 the valve is fully open. To close the valve to shut off the fiow of gas into the burner, the head 28 is rotated a half turn from the open to the-closed position. Rotation of the head turns the stem 26 and lowers the piston to the bottom of the slot thru the medium of the helical channel located in the stern having a pin engaged in the same, the pin being rigid in the restricted bore of the neck 24. Thru the cooperation of the helical groove in the stem 26 and the pin-proj ecting into the bore of the neck 24, the stem 26 and piston 27 are rotated so that the in dicator 29 is moved ahalf turn from the open position indicated by the letter O on thesurfa'ce of the flange 30, to the closed position indicated by the letter C. As this stem is rotated, the piston by reason of it being guided in the helical groove is lowered so that the space 23 between the channels 17 and 18, which normally communicated when the valve is open, are closed by said piston. The fuel gas, which normally passes thru the channels 17 and 18, is then shut off and the flame emitted from the burner 10 is extinguished. As the flame of this burner does not come in contact with the thermostat blade 39 thereafter, the leg 40 of said blade assumes its straight position, as indicated in Figure 2, and has its deflected portion "corrected. In this manner, member 33 is released from the recess 32 in the plunger 21 thru the medium of the pull exerted upon it by the rod 34. Member 33 in being retracted permits said plunger to be raised thru the action of the spring 31 to its extreme upper limit, in which position the openings22 in the wall of the plunger are disaligned with the channels 17 and 18 and out 01f communication between these channels. The closing of the valve by lifting the plunger 21 is automatically accomplished thru the action of the thermostat blade 40 and no forethought is required to shut off a gas flow with this type of valve. At the same instant that the plunger 21 is being raised by the spring 31, member 44 in the housing 42, which controls the flow of gas to the pilot light fixture, is also raised thru the expansion of the spring 49. Member 44 disaligns the port 45 therein partly with respect to the channels 46 in the tube with which the housing communicates and permits a relatively small flow of gas to circulate to the pilot light fixture, which latter has a constant flame therein normally extended by depression of the head 42, the latter action being accomplished by a lowering of the plunger 21 in the manner described. As the plunger has been lifted into closed position, the head 28 on the stem 26 may be rotated from the open to the closed the valve 1s ready for repeated operation.

It is to be noted that certain changes in "form and construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In'combination with a burner, a valve having a hollow body and a plunger slidable in said body, a nipple and a sleeve ex tending in diametrically opposite directions from said body, channels in said plunger aligning with said nipple and sleeve when said plunger is depressed, said plunger having a chamber bet-ween said channels, means for locking said plunger in depressed posision, means vfor lifting said plunger, a rotatable piston and stem in said plunger chamber for manually closing communication between said nipple and sleeve, a pin in said plunger chamber, said stem having a channel receiving said pin, said stem when rotated lowering or raising said piston.

2. In combination with a burner, a valve having a hollow body and a plunger slidable in said body, a nipple and a sleeve extending in diametrically opposite directions from said body, channels insaid plunger aligning with said nipple and sleeve when said plunger is depressed, said plunger having a chamber between said channels, means for locking said plunger in depressed position, a spring mounted on said body engaging said plunger for lifting the latter when and a piston in said chamber released, adapted to be manually operated to close communication between the nipple and sleeve, a stem surmounting said piston and means in said plunger and on said stem for 40 raising or lowering said stem when said stem is being rotated.

3. In combination with a burner, a valve 1 having a hollow body and a plunger slidable in said body, a nipple and a ing in diametrically opposite directions fromsaid body, channels in said plunger aligning with said nipple and sleeve when said plunger is depressed, said plunger having a 50 chamber between said channels, means locking said plunger in depressed position, a spring mounted on said body engaging said plunger for liftin the latter when released, a piston in sai chamber adapted to be manually operated to close communication between the nipple and sleeve, a stem on said piston rotatable in said lunger, said stem having a helical groove t erem, a pin engaged in said groove and rigid in said plunger, ed to lower said piston to the closin position, and a valve engaged by said pdunger for extending the flame of a pilot light when said plunger is depressed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

Y ALEXANDER MOSER.

sleeve extendsaid stem when rotated being adapt- 

